This is a general build article. I am also working on “Farming Major Spirit Runes or burning through 52 Energy per character as fast as possible”. Research Note: 52 Energy assumes 42 Energy Bar and 10 points from “Dungeon Banking” (see old BoH Forum post).

I am currently running a “Storm Fracture” War Mage with a few Red Gems in Max Health (War Mages have the worst armor, cloth), but the rest in Magic. Unlike Shadow Walkers and Justicars, there is no reason to have both Melee and Magic gems since all v1.4 War Mage abilities are Magic based. My character is using Axe/ Shield with Haste -40%. CJ prefers a Staff (Typist's Note: No comment. ). Update: I am now using a Tier 9 Staff when fighting Triple Groups if I have twice the minimum Might Rating for the Raid.

Abilities for Dungeon & Raid Bosses (7 points).Combustion rank 3= v1.4 does 350% weapon damage in 4 seconds (87.5% DPS) with a chance for a Critical Hit. With Haste -40%, if you are lucky, you can cast Inner Focus, Combustion then stall with Defend for 1 to 1.2 seconds then cast Icy Grasp rank 1, stall with Defend for 1 to 1.5 seconds, Buff character, De-Buff enemies, and have Ice Storm rank 3 strike the same time as Combustion rank 3. I am happy with the Combustion rank 3 going off within 0.5 seconds of Ice Storm rank 3. Due to Cool downs, Inner Focus rank 3/ Combustion rank 3/ Icy Grasp rank 1/ Ice Storm rank 3 combo works well against Dungeon Boss, but not so well against Onslaught Boss. Magic DOT.

For high Might Rating, a good group attack sequence is Ice Fracture rank 3, Ice Storm rank 3, Fire Fracture rank 3, Flaming Pyre rank 3, Inner Focus rank 3, Ice Storm rank 3. If you are very lucky, you will get Critical Hits with the first Ice Fracture/ Ice Storm and not even need the rest of the sequence. This is especially useful in Dragonmoor. If a group has low Health after Ice Fracture/ Ice Storm, then skip Fire Fracture and go straight to Flaming Pyre to finish them.

Exception: High Might Rating, in the Frozen Vale, then use Ice Storm rank 3, Fire Fracture rank 3, Flaming Pyre rank 3, Ice Fracture rank 3, Inner Focus Rank 3, Ice Storm rank 3. By skipping Ice Fracture, and going straight to Ice Storm, you slow them down, while the first Fire Fracture/ Flaming Pyre has a good chance of taking out the group. Enemies in Frozen Vale are resistant to Fire and very resistant to Ice. Another advantage in the Frozen Vale with Ice/ Fire Fracture is they De-Buff the enemy. Unlike Inner Focus that Buffs the character and can be removed by “Gaze of Despair” (Monster version of Radiant Light).

All free (found) Minor/ Major Runes are good. If you already have Ice/ Fire Fracture cast, use the matching Minor/ Major Rune for more damage. Exception, if your War Mage is going against flame creatures in Dragonmoor, they take extra damage from Frost Runes and extra, extra damage from Critical Hits with Frost Runes (see old post [ http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthrea ... ost2158479 ]). If you want to buy Minor Runes at the Temple, get Spirit Runes. They are the best value for your 650 silver (see old post [ http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthrea ... ost2146899 ]). During contests like the 2012 August Glenfort Games, Major Spirit Runes are awesome, especially vs. Onslaught Boss.

If a action is Slow +10%, and the enemy already has a De-Buff Slow +10%, the action resets the timer. If the enemy does not have a De-Buff Slow +10%, the action starts one.

By choosing Frozen Shard rank 2, and Ice Storm rank 3, you guarantee that the first use of Minor Frost Rune always starts a new Slow +10%, first use of Frozen Shard rank 2 starts a new Slow +20%, and first use of Ice Storm rank 3 starts a new Slow +30%. Technically they do not "stack", but the total affect is De-Buff +60% if you use all three.

If you choose Frozen Shard rank 3 & Ice Storm rank 3, using Frozen Shard rank 3 will start a De-Buff Slow +30%, then using Ice Storm rank 3 will reset the timer on the De-Buff Slow +30%. For a total affect of De-Buff Slow +30%.

Or the Frozen Shard rank 1 (+10%) will extend the timer on the Ice Storm rank 3 (+30%) giving it the De-Buff affect of Frozen Shard rank 3 (+30%)?

Good question. Didn't ask details, but you might be able to find out more information.

The answer I got was something like "enjoy it while it lasts, we will change it eventually" hehe.

I would guess they will make the 10% slow not extend the 30% slow, and just trash the effect. unless they have in-game mechanics already to partially refresh a duration based on its relative effectiveness.

Ice Storm rank 2 (was Ice Storm rank 3)= To maximize Slow Affect (see above post in topic) Frozen Shard/ Ice Storm must be different ranks. At my current Might Rating, I do more damage, so I removed a point from Ice Storm and put it in Frozen Shard. Triple Groups still are slowed 20%, but increased Magic Bonus Damage makes Ice Storm rank 2/ Flaming Pyre rank 3 as effective as Ice Storm rank 3/ Flaming Pyre rank 3 was before against Groups.

Research Note: Venan fixed the same problem with Toxic Blade/ Poison Cloud and Wound/ Circle of Blades. Depending on how, and if, they fix the problem, I may get Frozen Shard rank 3/ Ice Storm rank 3 in the future.

removed Combustion (was Combustion rank 3)= At my increase Might Rating, combat does not last 4 game seconds. I removed Combustion and put two points in Incinerate. I am still trying to decide between Icy Grasp rank 2, or Time Void rank 3. Currently running a 24 ability point War Mage.

Frozen Shard rank 3( was Frozen Shard rank 2)= Triple Groups are less of a problem at my current Might Rating. So I removed a point from Ice Storm (see above explanation) and put a point in Frozen Shard. Frozen Shard rank 3 has a very short cool down, making it much more useful against Raid Bosses. In addition, Frozen Shard is faster than Ice Storm, allowing me to Slow 30% Raid Bosses in less time.

Incinerate rank 3 (was Incinerate rank 1)= Combat is shorter at my current Might Rating. So I removed Combustion (see above explanation) and put two points in Incinerate. Incinerate rank 3 has a short cool down, making it much more useful against Raid Bosses.

My War Mage is currently 8,700 Might Rating and using a Tier 9 Staff 1.3 Speed.

I have made changes due to the higher Might Rating:

My War Mage is currently 9,718 Might Rating and using a Tier 10 Axe 1.1 Speed/ Tier 10 Shield or a Tier 10 Staff 1.3 Speed.

Once you can get into "Forgotten Sentinels" you tend to run "Forgotten Sentinels" and "Vale of the Ice Dragon" more than "Cursed Keep" since "Curse Keep" has monsters resistant and highly resistant to fire attacks. Fire attacks are all damage unlike Ice attacks. In "Vale of the Ice Dragon" Reduced damage Ice attacks can still be useful due to Slow/ Stun/ Interrupt additional effects. In "Forgotten Sentinels" both Fire and Ice attacks tend to do the same damage.

The only change I have made from my 8K Might Rating "Storm Fracture" War Mage is to change back to Ice Storm rank 3 and Frozen Shard rank 2. Many Mobs/ Triple Groups can be taken out with a critical hit from Flaming Pyre rank 3, or normal hits from Flaming Pyre rank 3 and Ice Storm rank 3. Thus Ice Storm rank 3 gives my War Mage a higher Kills Per Minute (KPM) in Real World Time.